A self-driving car service is coming to Reston this summer

Through a strategic partnership between Boston-based Optimus Ride and real estate operating company Brookfield Properties, Reston, Va., residents can expect to see autonomous vehicles hit the streets this summer, sort of.

https://twitter.com/BrookfieldDC/status/1093608393317801984

Launched in 2015, MIT-born Optimus Ride is a self-driving vehicle tech startup on a mission to transform mobility. The company develops self-driving vehicle algorithms, software, hardware and system integration for mobility on demand solutions.

Brookfield is headquartered in New York City, but this new initiative will be deployed at the company’s Halley Rise location. Formerly known as Reston Crescent, the new $1.4 billion mixed-use development will transform a 36-acre office park in Reston into 3.5 million square feet of housing, local retail, modern offices, public green spaces, and year-round cultural activations, a press release states. Halley Rise is located near the new D.C. Metro Silver Line station in Reston slated to open in 2020. Brookfield currently operates 40 properties in the D.C. metro area.

“We will deploy our self-driving system at Brookfield’s Halley Rise location this summer to provide users with autonomous mobility access between office buildings as we continue to scale our business. In the future, we will advance our partnership by deploying our self-driving systems at additional Brookfield sites around the world,” Dr. Ryan Chin, CEO and cofounder of Optimus Ride said in a statement.

Halley Rise will be fully complete and operational by 2026 with construction beginning in mid-2019. The first phase is expected to be complete in 2022, the company said in the press release.

Through all the construction, office tenants of One Reston Crescent and Two Reston Crescent will gain access to self-driving mobility within the Halley Rides site beginning in June 2019. Tenants will be able to book rides through Optimus Ride’s reservation system and on-demand ride services. Three self-driving vehicles will initially be deployed with human safety drivers in the vehicle and an operations team on site to maintain progress and maintenance. Tenants can reserve the autonomous vehicles to take them places within Halley Rise, like restaurants, office buildings, parking lots and apartment complexes.